Behavior Genetics

, Volume 46, Issue 3, pp 389–402 | Cite as

Separating Family-Level and Direct Exposure Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy on Offspring Externalizing Symptoms: Bridging the Behavior Genetic and Behavior Teratologic Divide

  • Ryne Estabrook
  • Suena H. Massey
  • Caron A. C. Clark
  • James L. Burns
  • Brian S. Mustanski
  • Edwin H. Cook
  • T. Caitlin O’Brien
  • Beth Makowski
  • Kimberly A. Espy
  • Lauren S. Wakschlag
Original Research
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

Maternal smoking during pregnancy (MSDP) has been robustly associated with externalizing problems and their developmental precursors in offspring in studies using behavioral teratologic designs (Wakschlag et al., Am J Public Health 92(6):966–974, 2002; Espy et al., Dev Psychol 47(1):153–169, 2011). In contrast, the use of behavior genetic approaches has shown that the effects commonly attributed to MSDP can be explained by family-level variables (D’Onofrio et al., Dev Psychopathol 20(01):139–164, 2008). Reconciling these conflicting findings requires integration of these study designs. We utilize longitudinal data on a preschool proband and his/her sibling from the Midwest Infant Development Study-Preschool (MIDS-P) to test for teratologic and family level effects of MSDP. We find considerable variation in prenatal smoking patterns both within and across pregnancies within families, indicating that binary smoking measures are not sufficiently capturing exposure. Structural equation models indicate that both conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms showed unique effects of MSDP over and above family level effects. Blending high quality exposure measurement with a within-family design suggests that it is premature to foreclose the possibility of a teratologic effect of MSDP on externalizing problems. Implications and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

Keywords

Maternal smoking during pregnancy Externalizing disorders Child development Multivariate Analyses Within-family designs 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the members of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory for assistance with data collection and coding and the families who made this research possible. Ryne Estabrook, Carrie Clark, Brian Mustanski, Edwin Cook, Kimberly Espy and Lauren Wakschlag were all supported by R01 DA023653 (PIs: Wakschlag and Espy). Suena Massey was supported by K23 DA037913 (PI: Massey), Kimberly Espy was also supported by R01 DA014661 (PI: Espy) and Lauren Wakschlag was also supported by the Walden & Jean Young Shaw Foundation.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Conflict of Interest

Ryne Estabrook, Suena H. Massey, Caron A. C. Clark, James L. Burns, Brian S. Mustanski, Edwin H. Cook, T. Caitlin O’Brien, Beth Makowski, Kimberly A. Espy and Lauren S. Wakschlag declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This research was completed with appropriate review by the institutional review boards of the authors’ universities. All data collection and data manipulation was compliant with rules regarding ethical treatment of human subjects and informed consent.

Supplementary material

10519_2015_9762_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (33 kb)
Supplementary material 1 (PDF 32 kb)

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  • Ryne Estabrook
    • 1
  • Suena H. Massey
    • 1
    • 2
  • Caron A. C. Clark
    • 3
  • James L. Burns
    • 1
  • Brian S. Mustanski
    • 1
  • Edwin H. Cook
    • 4
  • T. Caitlin O’Brien
    • 5
  • Beth Makowski
    • 1
  • Kimberly A. Espy
    • 6
    • 7
  • Lauren S. Wakschlag
    • 1
    • 8
  1. 1.Department of Medical Social SciencesNorthwestern University Feinberg School of MedicineChicagoUSA
  2. 2.Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral SciencesNorthwestern University Feinberg School of MedicineChicagoUSA
  3. 3.Department of PsychologyUniversity of ArizonaTucsonUSA
  4. 4.Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of PsychiatryUniversity of Illinois at ChicagoChicagoUSA
  5. 5.Department of PsychologyIllinois CollegeJacksonvilleUSA
  6. 6.Departments of Psychology and PsychiatryUniversity of ArizonaTucsonUSA
  7. 7.Office for Research & Economic DevelopmentUniversity of Nebraska-LincolnLincolnUSA
  8. 8.Institute for Policy ResearchNorthwestern UniversityEvanstonUSA

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